TAMPA, Fla. — Just as they had gained a measure of confidence, it ebbed.
The Detroit Red Wings measured themselves against the defending Stanley Cup champions Friday at Amalie Arena and while they could point to some positives, the net outcome was negative: A 3-1 loss that left them feeling down.
“There’s a lot of things right now that are frustrating and some things we can’t control,” captain Dylan Larkin said. “We had a great effort. We just came up short. We can’t keep coming up short.”
Larkin lamented that the Wings’ weren’t selfish enough, that they should have shot the puck more, especially on some of the odd-man rushes they created in the first period.
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The Wings had hoped to build off of beating the Carolina Hurricanes at home, but the trip south started with a reminder of what a difference special teams make.
“They scored twice on the power play when it mattered and we didn’t,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “That ends up being the difference in the game.”
The Wings had power plays when it was 0-0 and 1-1. The Lightning struck on their second, third and fourth power plays — the third goal came while Lucas Raymond was in the penalty box and Alex Nedeljkovic was on the bench.
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Nedeljkovic’s play (35 saves) certainly belongs among the positives; he seems to have righted himself after stumbling for a stretch, though it has helped that the Wings have tightened up defensively since giving up 10 goals to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 26.
“He’d be the first one to say he’s been fighting it a little bit and it was a great performance,” Larkin said. “He was calm and ate up a lot of rebounds and didn’t kick much out. We have to find a way to push something in the net.
“We played a really good hockey game. We started really well, had some chances. Lot of two-on-ones — we have to be a little more selfish and shoot the puck. We know what kind of team they are and what they do. It’s frustrating right now. It’s a tough feeling.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.